Introduction
Background Story Unfortunately, the creators of Heaven's Final Hour never really fleshed out a story. The basic scenario is thus: Hell, led by the three Prime Evils, is attacking some sort of heavenly fortress. Inside this fortress is the Throne of God, upon which God will appear if Heaven manages to keep Hell from destroying it. Factions Heaven *Jesus Christ: Jesus Christ, the Son of God, aka the fatass battlecruiser. You have control over Jesus (battlecruiser), Nathaniel (tank), Rafiel (High Templar) and a pair of Holy Bolts (Reavers). In addition, you've got access to a small number of every elite heaven has to offer. All the fortifications in heaven belong to you as well. *Jehoel: Jehoel, Angel of Presence, the zealot. You are arguably the most manly hero of Heaven, able to sprint and dive headfirst into any enemy (except the flying ones) and turn them into sushi. You've got a ninja friend named Zadkiel, who can silently assassinate enemy units. Beside you are your almost as manly Powers (zealots). *Michael: Michael, Chief of Army. You're the world's strongest and most badass marine. You're also a drug addict. By your side, you've got your son, the ghost Sethur. You also command a platoon of Thrones (dragoons). *Seraphiel: Seraphiel, Chieftan of Seraphims. You're the token girl of heaven. You also command Gabriel (dragoon), the Chief Messenger of God. Although both of you are slow moving, slow-attacking and squishy, your attacks pack a punch. In addition, you control a fleet of sleek and powerful Virtues (vultures). *Uriel: Uriel, the Angel of Repentance. You're a pyromaniac drug addict firebat, capable of turning the legions of hell to ash with a single (or two) blasts of your flamethrower. Notably, you have two sub heroes, the archon Metatron and his Cube, a probe. You command a squad of Dominions (Goliaths). Hell *Satan: Satan, the Devil. Not much else needs to be said. You're a mutalisk, and the terror of the skies and all of Heaven. Beside you are Azazel, a Ultralisk with a whopping ONE THOUSAND damage and Beezlebub, a defiler capable of casting Dark Swarm which renders the majority of Heaven powerless. You also spawn legions of lesser demons, as well as the elites of your allies. *Asmodeus: Asmodeus, Wrath of the Demons (goliath). Beside you are Samael (Lurker), Samyazza (Tassadar) and Vassago (Wraith). In addition to your mass, you command the power to steadily smash through Heaven with Hell's Fire (Siege Tanks), Tormented Souls (Infested Terrans). You also summon a horde of Darklings (Broodlings) and Dark Advocates (archons). *Astaroth: Astaroth, Prince of Hell (Hydralisk). You've got Lilith (Infested Kerrigan), Chorozon (Arbiter) and Berith (Dark Templar) to help you with your devilry.With Oblivion Knights and Nephilim, you can assassinate Heaven's heroes, leaving only a slight ripple in the air, and with Recall you can insert (or run away) units from amidst Heaven's warriors. A horde of Fallen (cracklings) and Ultralisks bolster your forces as well. Cannon Fodder Units The makers of the game changed the names of all the units in the game to suit the theme, and buffed them. Here is a list of their in game names, and Starcraft names. Heaven *Holy Archers: Ghosts *Paladins: Marines *Principalities: Firebats *Ophanamis: Super-Ghosts *Virtues: Vultures *Dominions: Goliaths *Thrones: Dragoons *Powers: Zealots *Holy Fire: Perma- sieged Tanks *Seraphim: Scouts Hell *Hell's Minion: Zergling *Hellspawn: Hydralisk *Demonic Cavalier: Vultures *Empyreal Transport: Protoss Shuttle *Sky Ladder: Overlord (transport) *Darklings: Broodlings (no timer) *Hell's Fire: Siege Tanks *Tormented Soul: Infested Terran *Dark Advocate: Archon *Fallen: Cracklings *Oblivion Knights: Dark Templar *Nephilim: Perma-cloaked Ghosts *Banished: Ultralisks The Map Heaven's Final Hour is a UMS map on Starcraft. It's gone through many versions and has spawned a few other iterations (Heaven's Last Defense, Heaven's Final Retribution, etc.), but the most commonly played version is v3.6c, by sH Cheetah, or some name like that. The majority of the map is taken up by Heaven's fortress. It's huge, and bristling with all sorts of cannons, artillery, turrets and traps for any who would dare attack it. Even worse are the several hundred defenders who will (literally) give their lives to prevent Hell from advancing. Heaven has every sort of terrain advantage: ledges, chokepoints, static defense to prevent Hell's mass from advancing. At the very bottom is Hell. It's a brown color, distinct from Heaven. There are a patch of creep on the left, right and middle where Asmodeus, Satan and Astaroth spawn respectively. Gameplay Mechanics Heaven's Final Hour is a defense map where a small number of defenders with a ridiculous terrain and static defense advantage defend against seemingly endless masses of enemies. However powerful, the static defenses alone will present little more than an annoyance to Hell as they advance. There are five different groups within Heaven, each with specific strengths and weaknesses. They must work together and hold strategic points against Hell. It is important to know when to give and when to hold and conserve your troops as much as possible. There are several strategic points within heaven, some of which Hell MUST take over or destroy to win. The others will just make it a lot easier. The amp is set up so Hell must take over these areas in order to reach the Throne in a conventional and efficient manner. Most of them are well defended by chokes, ledges and static defense which render Hell's mass near useless given a critical mass of defenders. Note that Heaven has vision over ALL of Heaven. Hell players are able to "mass" large amounts of weak units to where an observer is located. They are also able to "mass" their sub-elites the same way. Heroes and Elites must be micro'd the old fashioned way. Units periodically spawn for both sides. When Hell's mass is killed (or mostly killed), a new set will spawn on their patch of creep. On a different schedule, sub-elites and elites will also spawn. Heaven also spawns units, though this is dependent on the existence of specific structures. Heroes do NOT respawn. Units can also heal. Hell's elites, heroes and transports may heal at the Evil Heal located at the bottom center of the map below Satan. There is a 50 seconds (or so) cooldown to use this heal. Heaven has three heals, located at the Gateway, Citadel and Sanctuary. The first two are heroes only heals that run on a similar cooldown cycle, while the third can heal elites in addition to heroes. Note that these heals' existence is dependent on the structure they are located next to. For killing units, players receive minerals. For a reaching a certain amount of kills or achieving a hero kill (this includes indirect kills by splash or killing transports containing heroes), players will receive 5 minerals. These minerals can be spent on upgrades, for hell at the bottom right and heaven at the top left. Attack upgrades cost 5 per level, and armor 1 per level. Objectives *Heaven: Heaven, led by Jesus Christ, defends the fortress. The usual goal is to keep the Throne intact along with as much of Heaven as possible until the timer runs out and God comes, but your win condition is actually to kill Hell's three primary heroes, Satan, Asmodeus and Astaroth. *Hell: Hell, led by Satan, destroys the fortress. Your goal is to either destroy the Throne of God, or to kill (or "put to sleep") God Himself. Gameplay Layer 0 Hell is at the very bottom of the map. There is little of interest, except three patches of creep upon which Hell's units spawn. There are a few static defenses as well. Not very exciting, nothing much happens here usually. Layer 1 The outermost layer of defenses are the walls and gates. They WILL NOT hold for more than a minute (or in many cases, 30 seconds) against anything but a noob hell.However, the chokes themselves can be held for an indefinite amount of time. Serah and Uriel defend the left against Asmodeus, Michael and Jehoel defend the right against Astaroth. In the front center of the fortress is Heaven's Gateway, which is a Xel'Naga Warp Gate. It's guarded by six photon cannons around it, a few Holy Fires (tanks) and a bunch of Holy Archers (ghosts). Every so often, it spawns a pair of elites for Heaven's heroes along with an Ophanamis. There is also a heal for Heaven's heroes next to it that can be used every 40 seconds. The Gateway's vulnerable position makes its destruction come very quickly. Satan is in charge of attacking this, while Jesus and another hero or two defend it. Layer 2 On the bottom right side of Heaven is the Holy Enclave, a Xel'Naga temple. There is a staircase on the far right into hell, and a wider area to its immediate left. This building periodically spawns groups of infantry reinforcements. It's often considered the least important of the second layer structures. However if left unchecked, it will provide a ridiculous amount of troops for heaven, making it that much harder to win for Hell. Astaroth is in charge of attacking this, while Michael and Jehoel tag-team defend. On the left of Heaven is Heaven's Benediction, an Arbiter Tribunal. Access to it is limited to a pathway from the back, and a diagonal staircase on its bottom right. The Benediction allows for the opening and closing of Heaven's Gates, which provide access to the very top of Heaven containing the Throne of God and the Holy Sanctuary. Uriel is in charge of defending this, though often Serah (and other heroes) will come to help. Arguably, it is the hardest and most important structure to destroy. In the very center of Heaven is the Citadel, which is a Stargate. It is accessible by a straight bridge on its bottom, a path to its left, and a path from the back. It has a heroes-only heal. It is heavily defended by a variety of static defenses, as well as usually a bunch of Heaven's heroes and elites. Periodically, it spawns squads of elites for Jesus. Layer 3 The Holy Sanctuary is a Cybernetics Core located at the top right on a raised platform. An immobile Battlecruiser, Johiel, chief of Cherubims, guards this. Notably, this heal CAN HEAL ELITES in addition to heroes, though the elites are teleported the area right in front of the Throne when they do. Past the gates of the Benediction and the rest of Heaven's bristling defenses is the Throne of God. It's a platform containing the densest static defenses in the game. Four tanks, a bunch of traps, photon cannons and bunkers, all accessibly by 4, narrow diagonal paths. For good luck, the throne itself is a Nexus with 9999 hp AND shields surrounded by several layers of sandbagging. There's the Illuminant Shrine (a scanner) which Jesus can use to check out whatever shenanigans Hell is up to. Even worse, its also usually covered in dozens of Holy Archers, and whatever heroes and elites have survived the siege so far. If Hell manages to destroy the Nexus, they win! If Heaven manages to keep it alive, God spawns and pwns more or less everything. Notes The actual game runs for about 52 minutes, not an hour. Hell is not overpowered. Heaven is not overpowered. It only seems that way because the players on the losing team suck.